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I posted my Craigslist find for last week on this week's MMF thread.
I will repost that photo here and start to show the progress I have made.
I put a Pier One wicker chair I had at the table to show my daughter the scale of her new table.

I have been helping her to find one for about 6 months now and this one came up on CL for only $85. It was the cheapest of all I saw (mostly selling as 'vintage' for over $200) Not that the price was going to get in the way of getting the right table she wanted! I wanted to get Oak because of the grain, I wanted grain to show up. She wanted a driftwood, barnboard old greyed wood. WE could have looked for re-claimed wood and made one (saw one already made and perfect for almost 2 grand). But with the kitchen work we are finishing up at her house and my son's, we have no time to make a table.

The table came with 2 leaves at 20" wide each so I took one to start sanding and trying out what would look good for a stain. The goal is to not have any of that brown (perhaps a shadow of it here and there) showing.

You can see the grain that will be on the top of the table, and the sides. We really like the roundness of the legs, they attach easily too.

This is one of the two leaves that came with the table, I can hardly lift this! Each leaf is 20" wide.


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I started sanding one of the leaves.
I just love the grain on this table!
I sent this photo to my daughter and she loved it! So, I will proceed.

The legs are solid wood and sides are 1 1/4" thick solid wood and the top is 3/4 wood with at least 1/4" thick veneer (what you see me sanding).
This table could be refinished if ever needed be a few more times.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Mary Ruth,

This is a test patch of the vinegar stain I read about online and decided to try it.

I am also getting some gray stain (a bit darker) for the deeper parts of the grained areas.

You will see a lot of 'editing' because even at 15MB my photos were huge, so I had to keep resizing, these are at 80-90MB size.

That gray stain patch shows one application of a wet brush and it turned real fast, I let dry and this is what it looks like dry.

I also sanded a bit over it and it does come off a bit, but the sanded area shows a bit of the warm bare wood. I will have to apply stain and sand till I get that variation that we think looks good for the table.

Soon there will be no more 'brown-ish' table and all be GRAY!

Vinegar stain.
-Apple cider vinegar
-piece of steel wool soaked over night in the vinegar (not the kind like sos with soap)
-I strained the vinegar in coffee filter to take out any pieces of the steel wool
-brush on and watch the wood turn gray! I tried it on a few odd pieces of wood in the garage and it works fast, transforms real quick.

The table will be sealed with a good sealer like Waterlox because it will get a lot of use and condensation from wet glasses and spills (two teenagers in the house). Satin finish will work and if too glossy still, we can rub out some of the sheen (as recommended by the site for Waterlox)

*UPDATE: Just found out Waterlox WILL AMBER, so that cannot be used for a sealer that I want to keep white or gray!

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Mary Ruth,

I like the grey stain. I think it will give that table a great update!

Thank you,
I usually walk right past heavy oak tables.

And the gray is 'new' feeling, and Coastal!

I did find (on CL antique store in Orlando) they had a more true-shaped Parsons and it was vintage covered in white formica. I would love to have had that restored in the white. But my daughter wanted the driftwood look. So, we arrived at this solution.

She still has teenagers at home, so this table is just the right price and not too much work to redo. AND can be redone in the future to another color scheme!

Her kitchen is medium/dark gray for bottom cabinets and white at the top. This table will be in front of her yellow wall facing the kitchen.

Here is the dining chair seat fabric for when I redo the chairs once the table is done and delivered!

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Mary Ruth,

Wow, MR: I love the look of cerused oak and how the bold grain pattern gets a dusty, soft-focus look.

That table is going to look SWEET when you finish with it. Great find; great job updating it.

Interesting transformation. Looking forward to seeing it finished as I've not seen a gray table before. I think the retro-chic fabric on the chairs is going to be killer with the finished table!

it's wonderful, Mary Ruth. What an interesting stain! Does the grade of steel wool make any difference? Does the vinegar raise the grain of the oak?

Your DD will have tons of seating space and its nice that it can be smaller or larger. You are a good mom to do such a labor intensive chore!

Oh, wow, I love what you're doing! It's going to look fabulous, can't wait to see!

aychihuahua,
I looked up cerused oak, and that is not what I am doing thought that would look great too. The cerused oak has white paste forced into the grain after it has been brushed to remove or open the grain. What a sophisticated and beautiful finish that has! (see attached photo)

What I am doing is merely staining, sort of a cheap imitation of a process so much less impressive than cerused! Thanks for using the term though, made me feel important for all about 5 seconds till Google showed me what it meant! LOL

I will take what I get with the staining, and now I know to stay with water based stain to get that gray (online research this afternoon) and oil base to seal so the stain won't get diluted. (posted an online photo of cerused wood) Now that I have seen the cerused wood, I wish I had a house full of Oak to do it that way, love the look! Thanks for bringing it to my attention.

Bella,
I have run into a few in high end shops, but so pricey! Great for a coastal or beach look my daughter is looking for. Her house colors are mostly gray/white/yellow right now. She has some eggplant accents. I am sure lilac will soon follow.

LOS,
I used a piece of the 000 that is a flexible abrasive used in furniture finishing. We had some in the garage, I used just about 1/5 of the pad I broke off in a quart of apple cider vinegar. That provided the iron oxide I needed to produce the graying affect. Since the table was made with a sanded finish, and I was sanding the top layer off ending with the 220, I didn't see any raised grain, but it is OK if the lines in the Oak open up because then they will accept more stain.

There will be at least 2 coats of finish on top of the table and possibly 3, we'll see how it goes.

She does not need a lot of seating space most of the time, but when she will, she turns the table sideways and since her dining area opens into the living room and den areas, she can go as long as she wants! She is a happy camper right now, and I have only just begun on her dining table!

Miz M,
Thanks, I know gray is such a great color for a beach look, we are so hoping it works out. I will get some stain tomorrow at Lowe's and that way I will have lots of color to add to the wood. We do not want it a pale gray but a medium gray with lighter accents if that makes sense, in other words it will have depth of color instead of just using flat gray paint.

PICTURE is NOT the finish I am doing this is to show what the term cerused Oak means mentioned by aychihuahua.

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This message has been edited. Last edited by: Mary Ruth,

Can't wait to see how this turns out! I think it sounds like it will be beautiful. So much fun to refinish things for your kids.

Mary Ruth, did you check into marine varnish for the finish? I think that I read on this board once to use that for a table as it has such a hard finish but it may turn out like the waterlox.

Wanda

I have just finished my comparison with water based and oil based finishes. I have chosen to go with oil based because of the final outcome. With Poly that is water based I would end up with a layer on top of the table finish that looks applied and flattens the light reflection, sort of the way knock-down glass has on a picture, not as clear as regular glass. The oil based non-yellowing Lacquer I got will show all details through the finish and is sandable between layers. Lacquer can be applied over the apple cider vinegar as well. so I proceed today to add more stain. I may have to use some artistic license with the color, I will make decisions as I go.

I did check out all the varnishes this AM at Lowe's. I am working on a sample now using the Lacquer, if it does not do what I want, then the marine varnish would be good to try, just do not want anything that turns Amber. That is good to have the Amber coloration when working with wood, it quiets the grain, but I do not want yellowing on my gray.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Mary Ruth,

LOVE your redo on the table. LOVE LOVE the fabric!

quote:

LOVE your redo on the table. LOVE LOVE the fabric!

I too love the fabric and the whole project. But what really intrigues me is the staining. I wonder if you used brass (one of those kitchen scrubby things) in the vinegar what the result would be?

LOS I am not a chemist, but the steel wool http://www.ehow.com/how_448638...el-wool-vinegar.html Causes premature aging in wood, the apple cider vinegar makes a gray color of wood when applied to it, or sprayed on.

I remember adding vinegar to copper to make verdigris color, causes copper to corrode into that beautiful green color.

I had to go with a purchased stain. The vinegar alone made it beautiful but very Oak color rich as well. So, on top of that (after it dried) I used Rustolium Sunbleached color stain (not water based). The color is rich and the grain shows through. I sent my daughter a few pictures and she loves it with some grain and a small amount of warm color coming through. This is two coats of that stain with one coat vinegar solution underneath. I will bring this sample with me tomorrow when we go to Ft Lauderdale and then the rest of the table can be done this way.

I paired the leaf sample with my dark gray chair from outside because the color of her chairs will be that dark gray paint and won't be matchy-matchy with the table.

I have an After and a Before (on the right the original finish on that table)

I put the grayed finished (After) leaf on top of the table for this photo to show how different the table will be!

BTW, my daughter responded with 'she LOVES it'
She said coulld not imagine the oak grain with gray coloring!

It coming out bluish on the board, but not so IRL.

Has not been top coated yet, this is just stained and dried.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Mary Ruth,

I love the grey effect. It's kind of like a white washing effect right? The only thing with white washing is that it often comes out looking pink. I think that by your doing the vinegar treatment before hand, that may have taken the pink out of it? It looks good and I love the fabric you've chosen for the chairs.

I brought the table leaf to my daughter's house and she loved the color as it is. It looked great in her house.

So, I will continue to finish the rest of the table like this.

We did changed our minds about the chairs I was going to refinish for her. We discussed the details of the chairs, and that eventually she wanted to get modern chairs. Well, she decided not to let me do all that work on the chairs I now have to refinish and she will search for modern chairs for her table. We think tall backed square shaped with white leather or dark gray. We'll both research out there to see what we can find. We considered some chrome legs, but that may not be the direction she wants to go.

I am glad I do not have to do all that extra work, and I can get to start work on my dining room table after I finish hers.

I am getting excited, the look on my daughter and son's face when they saw the table top, was priceless, made me feel good about doing this project! Of course they are my kids and have seen me doing projects for years!

VG, I am familiar with white wash or pickling. This treatment I did was actual stain I applied over the weathered look that the vinegar treatment caused. You are right there is no pink, the photo looks a bit blue but in real life it stays true to the gray neutral colors.

Wow, great transformation!

This is crazy, but when I saw the first picture, I thought of the hgtv shows where they burn the wood to bring out the grain even more.

jovtfam,
I had not seen that (burning wood). I would love something like that for my house. I am looking for something small in Oak that I can weatherize and make more rustic than what I did for my daughter's table.

Was right there in front of me, woven parson's chairs!
I wonder what these would look like in that dark gray paint with some parts sanded off? I will have to pass this by my daughter. I have 6 of these chairs, no room for all of them in my house. I would have to find new chairs for my house.

Here is another view of that Pier One chair. I had these chairs in Virginia house and brought them with me.

They are the wrong color for my daughter's house though, would have to change them to darker gray with a rougher more weathered look.

I better think on this, this involves quite a few changes to my house! lol